Donates News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

I think this tops the Megan Fox thing. Last week, Blizzard dropped an announcement asking fans to «donate to the blood harvest», allowing them to earn some in-game swag for Diablo 4. 

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Blizzard has announced a rather unusual competition in which players can win a PC infused with real human blood.

Elon Musk has a bone to pick with another nonprofit: Wikipedia. Over the weekend, the Twitter/X owner took several swipes at the encyclopedia site and its operator, the Wikimedia Foundation, accusing it of alleged bias and routinely asking users for donations. 

If you want an example of how gothic and devilish gaming can get, look no further than Diablo 4. The recent installment in Blizzard’s celebrated action-RPG series is literally collecting blood, with some potential hardware to come from it.

Blizzard is celebrating the release of Season of Blood for Diablo IV by asking players to donate their own blood in return for in-game rewards.

With Season of Blood in full swing, players are fighting back against the forces of Lord Zir across Sanctuary — but what if you wanted to help him instead? Blizzard has announced the next best thing: a blood drive which not only benefits your surrounding community, but can earn the Diablo 4 community goodies as well! Blood Harvest Progress Blood Harvest Website As players work together to donate 666 quarts of blood, they can unlock three potential tiers of rewards as well as a final giveaway: Tier 1:

Blizzard has submitted a worthy entry for the year's most-unhinged PR stunt, raffling a Diablo 4 gaming PC "infused with real human blood" as part of a community-wide blood drive seeking 666 quarts by next month, which would require standard 1-pint donations from 1,332 players assuming no repeat entries. 

Developer Wargaming has launched a brand new charity initiative called WargamingUnited with the aim to raise money for Ukraine. 

Sony and Devolver Digital have each made respective donations towards humanitarian aid charities amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.

Add Innersloth to the list of developers that are aiding in relief for Palestinians currently trapped in Gaza. 

Fresh out the shadows, the emissaries of the vampire master Lord Zir have sunk their fangs into Sanctuary’s denizens to fuel sinister rituals—called Blood Harvests—during Season of Blood. We have launched a real-life Blood Harvest, offering fans in-game rewards in exchange for donating their blood.

World of Tanks developer Wargaming has launched a charity initiative to raise funds for critical medical assistance in Ukraine.

PlayStation parent company Sony has donated $2 million towards humanitarian aid for those affected by the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Sony is donating $2m (£1.65m) to support humanitarian aid in Israel and Gaza, as hostilities in the region continue, and casualties mount.

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Cult of the Lamb and Wizard with a Gun publisher Devolver Digital took to X (formerly Twitter) last night to share that it had made a donation to United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) providing aid to Palestinian refugees. The publisher shared the UNRWA link and encouraged others to do the same, if they are able. The donation amount was not listed.

OnePlus announced its first folding smartphone today, the OnePlus Open. This dual-screened device sports a purposeful design, excellent displays, and a new way to multitask that makes it a powerful productivity partner.

Indie job board Work With Indies has pledged to donate 100 percent of revenue made during October to organizations providing humanitarian assistance to families in Palestine.

Games job board Work With Indies will donate 100% of its revenue to organisations providing aid to Palestine.

Games industry charity GamesAid raised over £23,269 in three days at EGX via its tombola.

As part of a submission to the Jump Ship Game Jam, Slay the Spire devs Mega Crit Games just released a new free-to-play deckbuilder that wasn't made with Unity. 

Long-time Bethesda staffer Pete Hines is departing the company after 24 years.

Pete Hines, Bethesda Softworks’ senior VP and head of publishing, is retiring. In a recent statement, Hines said he will begin “an exciting new chapter of my life exploring interests and passions, donating my time where I can, and taking more time to enjoy life.” He noted that it wasn’t a decision that came “easily or quickly” but after “an amazing career” and following the successful launch of Starfield, he felt “like the time is right.”

Bethesda's head of publishing, Pete Hines, has announced that he will be leaving the company.

After nearly a quarter century of helping lead Bethesda Softworks, Pete Hines, the company's head of publishing and one of its most recognizable faces, has announced that he is leaving the company and retiring from the videogame industry.

Pete Hines, Bethesda's head of publishing, has announced his intention to retire from the company.

Just over a month since the launch of Starfield, Pete Hines, Bethesda’s head of publishing, is retiring from the Skyrim, Fallout, and Elder Scrolls maker to begin a “new chapter.” Hines, whose credits include every major Bethesda release since Morrowind in 2002, says the decision to retire is not one that he came to “easily or quickly,” but that following the launch of Starfield, “the time is right.”

Pete Hines, one of the key executives at Bethesda Softworks, has announced his retirement from the company.

Pete Hines, Bethesda Softworks’ head of publishing, has announced that he’s stepping down from his role to retire, after 24 years at the company. 

Bethesda exec Pete Hines has announced his retirement after 24 years at the company, just weeks after Starfield's launch.

Pete Hines, head of publishing at Bethesda Softworks and the second-most prominent face of the company that makes Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Starfield, is retiring. Hines announced his departure from Bethesda on Monday after 24 years with the company, indicating that he was exiting the gaming industry.

Pete Hines is leaving Bethesda after 24 years.

Bethesda’s head of publishing, Pete Hines, is leaving the company after nearly 25 years of employment, he’s announced.

It's that time of year again! The annual Running of the Gnomes takes place Saturday, October 14th, on the Scarlet Crusade-US server! The Run leaves the starting zone at 4pm Pacific, 7pm Eastern, 11pm GMT, so roll a new gnome, and join the community in raising support and awareness for the Cleveland Clinic's Tuohy Vaccine to prevent Triple Negative Breast Cancer! Donate to the Cleveland ClinicFull Event Details Every year, the community comes together to promote breast cancer awareness month by rolling pink haired gnomes and racing from their starting area in Gnomeregan, through the tram in Ironforge, all the way to Booty Bay, followed by an after party in Orgrimmar! While the long-time event has gained official recognition by Blizzard as the The Great Gnomeregan Run micro-holiday, which all players can participate in using their own characters, the original Running of Gnomes community event continues for players to gather together on Scarlet Crusade-US specifically using pink haired gnomes to showcase their support for breast cancer awareness. There are even official Trading Post objectives this year! To learn more about the origins of the event, check out this interview with Dravvie, join the official Discord server, or read through this year's Reddit post for specific details!

World of Warcraft players have once again shown their community spirit and love of adorable animals, raising over $1.5 Million (USD) for BlueCheck efforts in Ukraine through the sale of two precious in-game pets: Sunny and Flurky.

A new Dungeons & Dragons actual play is in the works, featuring even more familiar faces from the voices and creatives of the gaming industry. Titled «Natural Six», the campaign posted the Kickstarter trailer—shown above—to their YouTube channel earlier this week (thanks, Dicebreaker). Leading the group as its DM is Harry McEntire, who is the voice of Noah from Xenoblade Chronicles 3. 

In honor of Indigenous People’s Day on Sept. 9, Coyote & Crow Games has made the core rulebook for their evocative pen-and-paper RPG, Coyote & Crow, free to own for one day only. While the publisher suggests that the Indigenous community in particular should take advantage of this deal, anyone looking to add the game’s $70 core rulebook to their library is welcome to pay whatever they deem fair. PDF downloads of the core ruleset are available directly from the publisher’s website, which also includes a portal for monetary donations.

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Nintendo has announced its plans to shut down servers for the Wii U and 3DS in April 2024, but fans have already been working on a massive replacement in the Pretendo Network service.

Dota 2’s The International is the game’s eSport competition that’s been going since 2011. For the first few years, developer Valve funded the prize pool that pro teams would compete for, roughly $1.6 million to $3 million.

Imagine what it would be like to spend hundreds of dollars and thousands of hours amassing an unparalleled fortune in a game you love, only to have it all taken away.  Heartbreaking is a big word, but I would definitely be fighting back tears (as I uninstalled). 

Epic Games' head of publishing strategy Sergiy Galyonkin has announced that he is leaving the company after eight years.

Epic Games' director of publisher Sergiy Galyonkin has left the company.

Sergiy Galyonkin - aka Mr. SteamSpy himself - has left Epic Games after almost a decade at the Fortnite maker, including six years as its director of publishing strategy, saying that he is no longer “a good fit” for the publisher.

Sergiy Galyonkin has announced via Twitter today that he has resigned from his role as Director of Publishing Strategy at Epic Games. He had been with the company for over eight years.

The RuneScape team continues to request community feedback on the promised Hero Pass rework, and shares progress on tweaks of the current Underworld pass. This comes alongside news on the RuneScape tabletop games, a new charity bundle, and events.

After years of Fortnite-fueled relative stability, it seems a shakeup has come to Epic Games. Last week, we heard Epic was laying off nearly 900 employees, with company CEO Tim Sweeny admitting the company has been “spending way more money than we earn” for some time now. It seems whatever transition Epic Games is going through may affect one of the most divisive parts of their business – the Epic Games Store – as today Sergiy Galyonkin announced he was leaving the company.

There have been some major changes behind the scenes at Epic Games in recent weeks. Recently, it was announced that chief creative officer Donald Mustard was leaving the company, to be replaced by Charlie Wen, a former Marvel and God of War vet. Now, another key figure at the company has announced his departure.

CD Projekt Red has apologised for the Ukrainian localisation of Cyberpunk 2077 due to language which could be «considered offensive by Russian gamers» which was added in the 2.0 update last week and said it is working to add the «correct lines» in the next patch.

The Writer's Guild of America has reached a tentative agreement with studios and streamers to end their record breaking strike. And to celebrate, publisher Black Mask has launched a Kickstarter for an anthology titled General Strike: Calexit and Other Tales of Fighting the Good Fight full of stories rooted in "the struggle for economic equality."

Just last month, indie roguelike hit Vampire Survivors swapped to a whole new game engine in Unity. Now, with the whole game industry crying foul over Unity's half-retracted fee changes, the game's creator has a simple answer for whether he'd ever use the engine again: "lol no thank you!"

Attention, this is not a drill, Shrek’s swamp has been listed on Airbnb. Yes, you read that right, for the first time ever, Shrek himself is opening up his own residence and inviting three lucky fans to swamp-sit. For one time only this Halloween weekend, you and two friends can stay at Shrek’s swamp house for FREE, courtesy of Airbnb. 

Developer CD Projekt Red has apologized to Russian players for a number of anti-Russian messages that were included in the new Ukrainian localization of Cyberpunk 2077.

CD Projekt has apologised for anti-Russian elements in the Ukrainian version of Cyberpunk 2077, which was released alongside the game-changing Update 2.0 ahead of Phantom Liberty's launch on September 26.

CD Projekt Red has apologized after it was spotted that the newly released Ukrainian localization of Cyberpunk 2077 contained dialog and images that could offend Russian players.

There’s never been a better time to snag a copy of PC Building Simulator, with the game on offer for as little as $1, and you can raise money for a charity of your choice in the process. The PC Building Simulator Humble Bundle gives you the chance to pick up the PC-building sim for a fraction of its full value, with bundles worth up to $79 costing $10 or less.

Sheldon Menery, the co-founder of the Commander Rules Committee for Magic: The Gathering, is getting his own MTG card. This comes after Menery passed away earlier this month, with the card celebrating the lasting legacy he leaves behind on the series.

Unity is the cross-platform engine used by many of my favorite developers to create everything from small indie gems to bigger, more well-known games. The company recently disclosed upcoming changes to its fee policy which would see developers pay per-install of their games. The out-of-the-blue announcement was controversial, prompting a variety of game devs to respond detailing why this would have a negative impact on their work, with some creators going as far as backing out of using the engine altogether.

Unity might be facing the ire that comes with a near-universal condemnation of a new policy change, but at least things are looking up for two open-source game engines.

Developers received a nasty surprise when Unity announced that those who use its game engine will be subject to a runtime fee, beginning next year. This runtime fee will be charged monthly on a per-installation basis.

Baldur's Gate 3 has had its dialogue datamined—by virtue of @roksik-dnd on Tumblr—and the community's been elbow-deep in the muck trying to discover the game's rarest voice clips. While that may seem overkill for a game that's been dissected for weeks already, the recent discovery of an ultra-rare fourth wall break has fans on the scent. 

The irony has been pointed out many times: When game engine Unity revealed its new per-install fee last week, game developers were possibly the most united they've ever been—in disgust. Even developers who don't use Unity expressed anger or criticized the unprecedented change of terms. 

The Teal Mask Expansion for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet adds 100+ returning Pokemon, new Legendary creatures to catch, and even new forms of old Pokemon. The Kitakami Region is a massive wilderness area with plenty to explore, but progressing the story has one major drawback — the beautiful shrine at Loyalty Plaza gets destroyed. Okay, maybe that isn’t so bad, but it does lead to additional quest after completing the main story.

Terraria makers Re-Logic have donated $100,000 to two open-source alternatives to game engine Unity, and vowed to donate to Godot and FNA every month from now on, after slamming Unity’s recent runtime fee plans.

Terraria developer Re-Logic has donated $100,000 to open-source engines Godot and FNA, and will continue to sponsor the companies with $1,000 a month.

Terraria developer Re-Logic has responded to Unity's install-fee debacle by condemning the move and donating $100,000 to both Godot and FNA.

Terraria developer Re-Logic is donating $100k to two open source engines in the wake of Unity's recent policy changes.

Even though Terraria developer Re-Logic mostly doesn’t use Unity, it’s made a strong statement of condemnation in regards to the engine’s recently announced, controversial install fee policy – and it’s putting its money where its mouth is.

In protest of controversial changes to the fees associated with the Unity game engine, Terraria developer Re-Logic plans to donate $100,000 each to two open source alternatives, with further monthly donations to follow "going forward."

We're thrilled to announce the return of GamesBeat Summit Next, hosted in San Francisco this October, where we will explore the theme of «Playing the Edge.» Apply to speak  here  and learn more about sponsorship opportunities  here . 

The Pokémon Company has pledged $200k to the Hawaii Wildfire Relief Fund after announcing Honolulu as the location of next year's Pokémon World Championship.